


Ninety Seven Percent

by CaseyStar



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Character Study, First Dates, First Kiss, First Time, Getting Together, Idiots in Love, Living Together, Love Confessions, M/M, Matchmaking, Mutual Pining, Season 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:55:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24490087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaseyStar/pseuds/CaseyStar
Summary: Grace has been staying with Danny and Steve for two weeks while Rachel was away. She's sick and tired of seeing the two men be in love and do nothing about it. Thankfully, she's the member of this terrific trio that has any sense.Or sometimes all you need is a ten year old whose emotional intelligence is greater than that of the adults in her life. Combined
Relationships: Steve McGarrett/Danny "Danno" Williams
Comments: 24
Kudos: 244





	Ninety Seven Percent

**Author's Note:**

> There's no excuse for this nonsense

“Uncle Steve?”

“Hmmm?” Steve briefly glanced up from where he was placing the misoyaki butterfish under the broiler to finish cooking, unwilling to let the beloved little girl’s new favourite dish burn. The young girl in question sat perched on a stool at the small island, hunched over a notebook.

“What’s your middle name?”

“Jack. Why?”

The pen in Grace’s hand waggled in her grip as she scribbled something down. 

“No reason. Thanks”

“Oh. Uh, you’re welcome.” Turning off the heat beneath the rice and dolling it out into a dish, Steve gestured to the large bowl of fresh salad. “Could you take the salad through to the dining room, please?” Grace, as befit her upbringing, had already volunteered to lay the table, meticulously setting out the plates and cutlery before getting distracted and watching Youtube videos on how to fold napkins. If Steve were honest, the linens looked like nothing more than creased heaps of fabric, but he’d shoot himself before he told Grace that: she’d been so determined to make the meal ‘special’. Which was why the dining table had been cleared of their latest case material and instead adorned with Steve’s parents rarely used wedding china, the crystal glassware John always saved for special occasions, and under Grace’s continued urgings, two lit candles, and a bottle of wine for the adults. Her own fancy glass held POG, but Steve knew that being trusted with the crystal still made the young girl feel very grown up and included.

“Sure thing, Uncle Steve.” Carefully closing up her notebook, Grace leapt into action and it was only a minute later that Steve followed her, bowl of steaming rice in one hand, the platter of fish in the other.

“Danny!” He bellowed towards the doors that lead to the lanai where the detective was pacing a hole into his decking as he tried to talk his sister, Stella, off a ledge in regards to her son Eric and his latest misadventure. Which, from the fact Stella was calling at what had to be the middle of the night in Jersey, must have been a doozy. From what Steve had overheard through the open window, Danny’s input was mostly reduced to alternating between ‘ _his father’s a putz, he’s always been a putz’,_ and _‘put Eric on a plane and I’ll set him straight_ ,’ for the last forty-five minutes.

A resolution didn’t appear forthcoming but at the sight of the food that Steve held up, Danny’s shoulders slumped in what he’d like to think was relief. Danny waved a hand in acknowledgement and turned back to his call, heading towards the door back inside.

“-no I gotta – because it’s _rude._ ” Danny pointed at the phone with his free hand and rolled his eyes making Grace giggle.

“Bye Auntie Stella, love you!” She called as Danny held the phone towards her.

“Bye!” Steve added just to watch Danny narrow his eyes at him.

“No I gotta – Stells, the food is getting cold – I gotta go, teaching Gracie bad manners if I stay on the – hey! Unlike you I’m trying not to raise an animal. I gotta go – okay, okay, bye. Love you. Give Ma and Pa a hug okay? And smack your son upside the head from me.”

With a deep sigh, Danny dropped into his chair and hung up the phone at the same time.

“Everything okay?” Steve asked as he handed over the fish platter after plating up Grace’s and making sure she took plenty of greens to go with it. He didn’t miss the way Danny’s eyes went fond and soft as he took care of the other man’s daughter and her needs, ensuring she was fed and happy.

“Eric’s in trouble again.” Making a show of draping his possibly-swan-possibly-heap napkin over his lap, Danny launched into the whole sordid tale, likely sanitized in deference of young, and impressionable, ears.

  
*

Steve had forgotten his earlier conversation with Grace until he was clearing the table. Demonstrating that Danny was, indeed, _not_ raising an animal, the young girl had announced that since he’d cooked Steve shouldn’t have to wash up too, and shooed her complaining father into the kitchen while Steve set the dining room to rights. Danny had thrown a comment over his shoulder that he wouldn’t want Steve to ruin the ‘ _only nice shirt I think you own’_ while gesturing at the button down that Steve had donned when it became clear Grace was putting so much effort into their dinner. As Steve was blowing out the candles and safely returning them to the sideboard, he could hear snippets of the conversation happening amid the music on the radio.

“Danno, can I ask you something?”

“Sure, Monkey. Unless it’s about what you saw last night during that show Uncle Steve let you watch, you are not old enough to _think_ about that, let alone ask questions about it.”

“What’s your middle name?”

Walking soundlessly to the kitchen door, Steve leaned against the wall, telling himself he wasn’t spying on the little duo. It wasn’t his fault he had an overactive sense of curiosity and the sound of his own name had piqued his interest. He’d argued with Danny all last night, and multiple times that morning, that it wasn’t his fault, that Grace had played him, told him that her Danno said it was okay, but it hadn’t gotten him out of the doghouse until Steve had left the office mid-morning and returned with malasadas and a hangdog expression. The doughnuts had been accepted with a grunt, the apology met with narrowed eyes but no further rant which was pretty much the same as accepted in Williams-ese as far as Steve was concerned. 

Peering around the corner, Steve took in the sweetly domestic scene; Danny was up to his elbows in suds with Grace sitting on the counter beside him with a dish towel in her hands, her little legs swinging to rhythmically drum her heels against the cupboard door.

His heart clenched at the sight. So near and yet so far. The last two weeks had been a lesson in being careful what he wished for – Rachel had been called away to England with a family emergency, Stan was out of town on business and not wanting to pull Grace from school, Danny had leapt at the chance to have his daughter full time. With the detective between places once more, and staying with Steve, Grace had moved into Mary’s old room, swiftly making it her own. His house had been filled with laughter and happiness and _family_ in a way it hadn’t for decades. 

If he were honest, in a way that it perhaps never had.

But Danny and Grace weren’t his, no matter how much he wished things were different. Grace would leave and soon enough Danny would follow and he’d be alone again, left with nothing but the memories. 

It would _almost_ be easier if it were just him. If he were the only one that wanted _more._ Wanted _them._ It wouldn’t have been the first time that feelings had gone unrequited. Steve could have pulled on his big-boy pants, wrestled his feelings into a box and stamped it down into the depths and darkness reserved for things that could never be, alongside longings for Doris to be a real mother and his father to be alive. But he was sure, _sure_ , that Danny felt the same. He’d caught the looks, the way Danny’s gaze couldn’t be torn from his chest when he was shirtless, the way Danny would even manufacture need for Steve to change in front of him. He’d seen the way Danny had muscled into his life and home and heart as though he belonged there and was just waiting for Steve to do the same. Yet every time Steve pushed a little, Danny retreated. A most frustrating dance and Steve, for the life of him, could _not_ figure out why.

Danny’s answer pulled him from his musings. “Don’t have one.”

That made Grace look up from where she was swiping a cloth over a plate, an adorable frown creasing her face.

“Why not? I have one, and mommy has one, and even Uncle Steve has one.”

“I don’t know why I don’t have one. You can ask grandma when we speak to her next time, how about that?”

“Okay.”

As Steve watched, Grace placed the dry plate on top of the other two by her thigh and hopped down. Carefully, she carried her load to the cupboard, refusing her father’s offer of help, choosing instead to pull the cupboard door open with her foot. Steve was unable to supress his grin at the sight; Grace really was as stubborn and independent as her father, determined to prove she could do things on her own and it made Steve almost unbearably proud to watch her grow. Instead of returning to her perch and continuing her work, she moved to the island and collected up her notebook, furiously scribbling something down.

“Hey, slacker! This was your idea, no sleeping on the job.” Danny waved a glass in her direction, bubbles and droplets flying in all directions much to Steve’s annoyance.

“One second!”

“Not one second, _now_. I asked if you were finished with your homework earlier. You told me you were, which is why Uncle Steve and I are gonna watch ‘ _Lilo and Stitch’_ with you.”

“It’s not homework.”

“Then it can wait. Dry now, plan the next great American novel later.”

Grace slowly closed the notebook with all the passive-aggressive care that her little body could muster and turned back to the sink with a put-upon sigh. Padding silently away from the kitchen Steve went to set up the movie, determined to enjoy the last of his time with Grace.

*

Ninety minutes and one Disney movie later, Danny let the door shut behind him as the sound of Rachel’s car taking his little girl away from him for another two weeks faded into the distance. Glancing at the coffee table and spying the empty bowl there, he sighed. In the time he’d been buckling a very sleepy Grace into the car, Steve had finished off the last of the popcorn - that Danny had specifically called dibs on - and was coming out of the kitchen, staring intently at something in his hand.

“What you got there, babe?”

“Take a look.”

Steve held out the paper as Danny shuffled past to settle onto the couch. In Grace’s careful script was written,

[ ](https://imgbb.com/)

Danny physically felt his heartrate kick up, so fast it seemed like his body should be swaying with the force of its pounding. He’d run towards gunfire, without a vest he might add to anyone that cared to listen because he was partnered with an imbecile, with less of a whirr in his chest.

Between the note and an emergency situation? He’d take the gunfire, because there was no way on Earth that Steve _wasn’t_ going to make something of it and make him talk about _it._

Steve watched in silence as Danny’s eyes scanned the short note, he swallowed hard and then returned to the top. Then scanned again.

“Huh.” Danny’s tone was flat.

“So?”

“’ _So’_ , what?” Danny didn’t look up, and Steve couldn’t read his expression. He’d been surprised when he’d found Grace’s note, but then the part of his brain that was always looking for an angle, for an exploit, had decided to turn it to his advantage; he was finally going to make Danny discuss the enormous elephant in the room.

But he’d never seen Danny so still and, more worryingly, quiet, and it was disconcerting. An explosive Danny was, ironically, a happy Danny, a healthy Danny. But a quiet one? That was far more dangerous.

“Are you gonna say anything?”

“Like what?” Danny’s eyes hadn’t stopped roving the note, though Steve suspected he had to have even the numbers memorized by that point.

“Like what’s going on in that thick skull of yours?”

“Okay, uh.” His tongue snaked out to wet his lips and Steve felt a flash of heat at the thought of chasing that tongue with his own. At the thought of Danny wanting him to. “I'm-uh- I'm thinking if a grade school game says it, it must be true. Guess we better give it a shot.”  
  
“Been worse reasons to give a relationship a shot.”

“Been better ones too.” 

“Like even a ten year old sees what we could have and just wants you to be happy?”

Danny’s head shot up so fast his neck cracked, but he barely registered the pain in his shock; Steve’s tone was earnest, not joking. He searched the other man’s face, and all across his face, and lit up in his dopey eyes, was hope.

This was not how he had expected to spend the evening. After two weeks of Grace with him, a rare and devastating treat, he had known he’d likely crash after she left, seek out the good whiskey he knew Steve had stashed behind the rice in the pantry and go make friends with the horizon for a while, before stumbling, determinedly un-sober, to bed.

Instead, the conversation he’d artfully avoided for three years was coming for him, courtesy of his own flesh and blood. The adorable little traitor.

“Don’t do that. Do not do that, Steven. Do not use Gracie against me.”

“She loves you, Danny. She wants you to be happy. _I_ want you to be happy.”

“With you?”

“Is that so hard to imagine?”

That was the problem. It was entirely too _easy_ to imagine. To want. To yearn desperately for it. Danny had wanted it almost from the start. He’d spent the last month living at Steve’s while searching for a new place, and then Grace had come to stay and it had been like having a family again, a little unit of three. And if he were honest with himself, he knew it was what Steve wanted too: the man was as subtle as a bull in a china shop. People that didn’t know them made comments about their ‘marriage’ after less than a minute in their company, and the less polite ones made it clear they were more than happy to join them if they ever wanted a third, though more than one had remarked ‘ _not that your man looks like he’d ever let anyone else touch you, huh?’._

If it was just about sex _and_ Danny still worked at HPD, then he’d have gone after Steve years ago, but it was more complicated than he suspected the other man would admit. After so many years practically in each other’s pockets their lives were hopelessly entwined. They worked together, leading the premier law enforcement team on the islands. From the moment they met, Grace had loved her Uncle Steve with a fierce adoration; in her eyes there was nothing the other man couldn’t do, not least of which was to ensure her Danno came home to her safe and sound. If it all went to shit, and Danny was sure it would because nothing ever lasted for him, it wouldn’t just break his heart, but Grace’s and that wasn’t something Danny could allow.

“Steve…”

“No, Danny. We’re talking about this. For once, no more dodging, no more evasion. You know what I want. You’ve _always_ known. So explain it to me. Explain to me why you won’t give me a chance.” 

He’d wanted it to sound strong, commanding, but Steve heard the note of pleading that had entered his tone. Three _years_ they’d danced around it, dated other people and always they came back to each other. It was always Danny that turned up with a beer and a pizza from a new joint he wanted to complain about when things went to shit on a case and Steve didn’t know how to let it all go at the door. It was Steve that let himself into Danny’s apartment on some pretext on days he knew Grace was back with her mother and the house felt too empty, or it was Matty’s birthday, or any other number of shitty days and Danny was feeling the old loneliness like an unwelcome friend. 

Nobody else came close, and they could have so much more but Danny wouldn’t allow it.

“Don’t do that, do not give me that look. You know why I have reservations.”

“Actually, no I don’t.”

The tone of Steve’s voice, the deep growl surprised Danny, and his face…Steve had a _look_ when he’d locked onto a target, utterly and chillingly impassive except for his eyes. Those expressive eyes went cold, and hard, devoid of all the care and softness and compassion that Danny knew the other man held. Far too much, he suspected, for the job he had once held. Those eyes became laser focused, a little furrow appearing between his brows as something close to a snarl would mar those handsome features, and Danny was pretty sure the SEAL barely blinked.

Danny didn’t know if the McGarrett family had an aumakua, but if they did, it wouldn’t surprise him even a little if it was a shark.

For the first time, that look was directed at Danny, his _target_ was Danny, and the detective was suddenly and chillingly aware of just how much danger he would be in should Steve ever wish to cause him harm. 

But while this might have been a Steve with a target, for once it wasn’t one he wanted to kill or otherwise blow to smithereens. It was one he apparently wanted to love, and somehow that was even more terrifying; Steve cared with every iota of his being, fiercely and completely, and utterly without concern for his wellbeing, and that was just for strangers. What would he be like for someone he was all-in in a relationship with? Because that was the only thing Danny would risk it all for. If his time with Gabby had taught him anything, it was that he needed the stability of knowing that day in and day out his partner would be by his side. Not casual dating, not part-time fuck buddies or whatever the hell Steve had had going with Cath, but a real relationship and he wasn’t sure the SEAL was even capable of that level of commitment to anything other than the Navy and the State of Hawaii.

All or nothing, and if Steve wasn’t going to look after himself and admit he couldn’t offer that, Danny would have to be the responsible adult yet again, and do it for him.

“Steve, you know-”

“I really don’t.”

Steve hadn’t even blinked, let alone back off the way Danny had hoped.

“We want – we _need_ different things. I need commitment-”

“I want that too!”

“You need _to_ _be_ committed. That’s not the same thing.”

“Don’t deflect.” Steve scowled, planting both hands on his hips. “Look, I know you’ve got baggage. We both do, enough to open an airport but-”

“You a shrink now? When did it become so important to you to talk about this? You never wanna talk about anything!”

“Because I want you with me. I’m tired of pretending like I don’t and the last couple weeks…you can’t tell me that isn’t what you want too. You and me, with Grace. That,” he pointed at the note, “maybe that’s just the push we needed.”

“Why? Why? We have a good thing going here, it can be enough. Why can’t you let it be enough?”

“Because I love you!” It was hardly the romantic declaration he’d intended to make. Steve knew that just about everyone in his life would call him emotionally stunted at best and repressed at worst, but he was pretty sure that screaming those words at the object of one’s affections in the middle of a fight about being together was not condoned by Emily Post.

Or Danny, from the stricken look that greeted his words and the way that Danny stepped away from him.

“I love you,” Steve repeated, more softly but just as intent, just as honest. He didn’t follow Danny’s retreat, didn’t crowd him, though it went against every instinct he had. However, he wasn’t going to let the other man try and deny what he’d said.

“You won’t.”

Steve jerked back as though struck at the sheer vehemence in Danny’s tone.

“What?”

"I know you're trained to endure torture and shit, but I've been assured, on multiple occasions that living with me is enough to break God himself."

"I'm not Rachel, Danny."

And wasn’t that just a punch straight to the gut? Danny choked on whatever he’d been about to say. Instead, his fist formed so hard, so fast he was surprised he didn’t hear his knuckles crack, but right then lashing out, punching Steve out seemed the greatest idea ever. His knuckles practically throbbed with the memory of the one and only time he’d struck Steve like that. He never thought he’d feel that desire again, no matter how often he threatened his partner with a little Jersey beat down.

“Asshole.”

Whatever Steve saw in his expression, in his clenched fist, it wasn’t enough to deter him. Steve’s eyes were wide, a little shocked, like it wasn’t what he’d expected to stay, but the set of his jaw made it clear that he stood by it regardless. 

“You asshole.” Even to his own ears, Danny sounded exhausted and emotionless as he consciously relaxed his hand, shaking his head slowly as he stepped back away from Steve.

“We can do this.” Steve’s voice was soft, reassuring, the way it went when he was comforting frightened witnesses. “The shit we’ve been through…we’re still here. Matty, Doris, Nick, Peterson…we always turn to each other, we always come back to each other.” Steve sounded so sure, so certain and Danny just couldn’t understand how. Didn’t he see how easily, how completely the whole thing would blow up in their faces?  
  
“If you need slow, I can do slow.” Danny snorted in derision; if there was one thing Steve was physically incapable of doing, it was going slow. At anything.

“I _can._ It might surprise you, but I can, when I think it’s warranted. But three years…three years of this, that’s not slow, it’s glacial. I gotta know if I’m just making an idiot of myself waiting for something you’re never gonna give me.”

“You _are_ an idiot,” Danny retorted reflexively, trying in vain to separate himself from the conversation.

“Danny.”

“Let’s say we get together, right?” Steve nodded at his words, eyes going soft at the thought. “We love each other, we move in together, Gracie paints her room a lurid shade of eyeball-melting pink.”

“That’s what I want.” And God help him, the goof really did look like that was everything he could ever ask for, that his ordered and quiet life become one of a second phone line just for Grace’s room and belongings scattered wherever they landed.

“I’m not done.”

Steve mimed zipping his lips and gestured for Danny to continue.

“Then the irritation starts. We have no time apart because we work together too. So we poke and poke and prod and then all that’s left is the shit and suddenly I’m back in a shitty apartment with even shittier pizza. No job because you _are_ Five-0 and HPD pretty much hates me anyway. I’ll be even worse off than when I came here. I’ll be alone.”

Turning away from Steve’s devastated expression, his piece said, Danny moved to grab his jacket from where it was draped, much to Steve’s annoyance, over the bannister. He had no idea where he was going to go, because though Chin had a pull-out couch and Kono had the good booze, going to either of his colleagues would only result in questions he didn’t want to have to answer. Away, was what was important, where to he would figure out on the way.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Away from this conversation.” Danny shrugged into the coat, hands reflexively travelling to his pockets to check he had his car keys. At least that was a silver lining, he’d actually get to drive his own car for once. As he rubbed his thumb over the keyring, he idly wondered if he even remembered how. He turned back to find Steve, the fucking ninja, standing in front of the door, as immovable as a wall.

“No.” Steve crossed his arms over his chest, shifting his weight as he adjusted his stance to take up even _more_ room in front of Danny’s escape route. 

“No?” Danny’s brows climbed to his hairline, before glancing over his shoulder. There were two more doors but fast as he knew he was, he didn’t think Steve would let him get to either and he was too old to be tackled onto hardwood floors.

“No, you’re not leaving until we finish this.”

“What are you gonna do to stop me? Shoot me?”

Cocking his head to the side, Steve licked his lips. “I’m considering it.”

“Yeah, that makes me wanna stay.”

“And what about that?” Steve gestured at the paper still grasped in Danny’s hand.

“Are you actually insane? It’s a freaking kid’s game! Grace was walking on air last week because she got 93% with some boy at school, and yet this week she can’t stand the kid, much to my relief, even though I’ll be keeping my eye on him, thank you very much, but that’s another matter entirely. This,” he waved the now crumbled piece of paper around between them, “-doesn’t mean anything.”

“I’m not talking about the ‘love calculator’.” Danny bit back a reflexive snide comment about Steve using air quotes. “I’m talking about the fact everyone around us, even a kid - _your_ kid - _knows_. They see it. Even _perps_ ask us how long we’ve been married. We’ve been offered marriage counselling on more than one occasion for fuck’s sake.”

“Yeah, and I have such a great track record with that. Neither of us are exactly batting a thousand in the relationship stakes, bud.”

“Oh, so _that’s_ it.”

“That’s what?”

“You’re scared.”

“I’m not scared!”

“Really? Then what’s all this?” Steve stepped forward and flicked derisively at Danny’s jacket, using his distraction to try and snatch the car keys from lax fingers. 

He failed.

“Concern.” Danny stepped back, clenching his fingers around the keys to keep a hold of them even though he knew that if Steve put in a concerted effort he’d get them eventually. He always did. “Perfectly rational concern about everything in my life going to shit. Again.”

“We haven’t so far.

“Give it time.”

“So you won’t even give me a chance to prove you wrong?”

“Nobody has _ever_ proven me wrong. Everything in my life that isn’t Gracie goes to shit. Do you not get that? _Everything._ ”

“Self-fulfilling prophecy.” Steve shrugged.

“Excuse me?”

“You go into every relationship, every moment expecting it to go to shit and so it does.”

“Or maybe I’m just proven right!”

“So you’re what, Danny, going to give up on any form of happiness?”

Danny sighed.

“Look, when Gabby left Grace was devastated, and you, you mean so much more to her and I can’t, I _won’t_ , do that to her again.”

“Huh.” Steve looked thoughtful.

“Huh'? What does ‘ _huh_ ’ mean?”

“Oh, nothing,” Steve waved away Danny’s question.

“Don’t do that. I’m giving you the floor here, impart your wisdom.”

“I just don’t think this is about Gracie. Not all of it anyway.”

“Excuse me?”

“Exactly. Excuse. You’re using your daughter as an excuse but really if it wasn’t for her, you’d find another reason to tell me no. You’re protecting yourself.

Danny nodded, pursing his lips.

“Protecting myself. Okay, Doctor Phil, from what?”

“From a serious relationship. From me. Because you won’t let yourself even _try_ to be happy.”

“Oh, well,” Danny gestured at himself, “you just perfectly diagnosed me, Sigmund. Can’t imagine why I wouldn’t take relationship advice from a man that has never had a serious relationship in his life with anything other than a gun. What do you know?”

“I know _you._ I know you resist happiness like it’s in your DNA, and you’re doing it now. You’re doing it to me. You’re preparing for us breaking up before we’ve even gotten together.” Steve stepped forward, hands moving like he was going to reach for Danny but he aborted the movement, unsure if his touch would be welcomed. “You’re scared we’ll break up, but for once can’t you just push through that?”

“We’re going in circles, Steve.” Danny made another move towards the door, trying to calculate his chances of darting around an All-State QB1.

“You can walk out that door Danny, but I’m never gonna leave you. Not ever.”

Danny’s shoulders slumped and he stopped midstep. He was silent for a minute and when he finally did speak it was to the floor. “You can’t promise that.”  
“The only thing that would take me from your side is death.” Steve voice was strong, earnest.

Danny whirled on Steve, disbelief writ large across his face. “Oh, so just the thing you court on the weekly.”

“Is this because of the case? I’m _fine._ Look at me.” Steve patted down his torso before spreading his arms wide and spinning around to show how bullet hole-free and healthy he was, despite the fact that not five hours previous they’d been dodging bullets and one, thankfully, inexpertly fired rocket launcher.

Just another Friday in Honolulu for Five-0.

Of course Danny was all too aware of the scars under those clothes, the wounds from bullets, the slashes from knives, hurts inflicted by strangers and friends alike. He didn’t want to be the cause of far worse invisible ones across Steve’s heart like so many others in his life.

“This time. You’re fine _this_ time. But you’re a walking danger magnet. What about next week? Or if the Navy recalls you or-”

“So you won’t try because you’re being a coward?”

“Are you kidding me?” Danny’s eyes narrowed in anger. “Are you actually being serious right now? Because this is one hell of a time for you to develop a sense of humour.”

Steve snorted. 

“Shoe fits, bud.”

Danny’s mouth opened and closed in silence as he struggled to verbalise his outrage at the accusation and failed.

“Maybe you’ve not been paying attention over the last few years, but I have. Do you know how often the average cop fires their weapon over the course of their career? Zero, Steven. Ze-ro. I, on the other hand, am responsible for about 20% of the rounds fired on this island. But despite having gotten shot at, and _actually_ _shot_ more times that I can count, I still get up and go to work every damn day.”

“Emotionally.” Steve jutted out his chin and crossed his arms. “You’re an _emotional_ coward.”

“ _An emotional coward…_ You been watching Oprah again? The robot is accusing _me_ of emotional cowardice.”  
  
“That’s what you really think of me?”

“Don’t do that, don’t deflect.”

“How is it deflecting, you just called me a robot.”

Danny sighed and held his hands up in placation. “I shouldn’t-I shouldn’t have called you that. I know you’re not a robot.”

Steve shook his head, shoulders sagging as he closed his eyes against the hurt. He looked defeated.

It was unnatural. Five-0 had been up against the wall too many times to count, and Steve had always just doubled down, found a way, _made_ a way if there wasn’t one. Often with a grenade. He never just…gave up. But before Danny could open his mouth, Steve got there first.

“Just tell me and you can go.”  
  
“Tell you what?”

“What’s so wrong with me that you won’t even try? Why am I not worth giving a chance?”

"You're worth everything! That’s my point!”

“That makes no sense. You realise that, don’t you?” Steve straightened up a little as though sensing he still had a shot, seeking out the chink in Danny’s argument.

“It makes perfect sense!” Danny’s hands slashed through the air as he emphasised his statement.

“Why are you yelling at me?” Steve was frowning.

“Because you’re being an idiot.”  
  
Steve held up his hands and stepped back, closer to the door rather than away, giving them both some breathing room.

“Okay. Explain it to me. Explain to me how I can be everything and you _still_ walk away. Because I know you, Daniel, _I know you_. I know you don’t walk away from anything you care about. You’ll bitch and complain, but you’ll _never_ run awa-”

"Lonely people do stupid things."  
  
Steve frowned. "Okay. You've said that before."

"Because it's true.”

“What’s that got to do with me? Us?” 

“I don't wanna be something you do because you're lonely."  
  
"Okay." The corner of Steve’s lips twitched and if Danny didn’t know better, he’d swear the bastard was suppressing a _smile._ In the middle of the worst fucking conversation he’d had since Rachel had dropped ‘ _I want a divorce’_ at the breakfast table like she was discussing a new rug for the bathroom.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
" _Okay_ , okay."

"What?"

Steve let the smile slip free, an obnoxiously happy expression given they were still in the middle of a fight, for fuck’s sake. 

“Have you lost what’s left of your mind? What are you smiling about?”

If anything, Steve’s smile got bigger, gummy and goofy and more adorable than Danny wished to admit. "I just need a minute to down shift to your current level of stupidity."

Affronted, Danny stepped back, throwing his arms out. "I'm stupid? _I'm_ the stupid one?!"

"Yeah,” Steve chuckled. “Right now you are, bud.”

“Your wooing technique needs real work, buddy. I’m a coward and an idiot.”  
  
“What you are is my Danno.” Steve pressed his hand over his heart, the other reaching out towards the other man. “You’re irreplaceable, on the job and off. I want you here, with me. Always. Truly _my_ Danno.”

“Would you listen to me for _five_ minutes-”  
  
“No,” Steve retorted, stubborn and mulish as ever. “I’ve been listening, and I’m tired of the excuses. I _love_ you and it has nothing to do with loneliness. Why does everything with you have to be so hard? Why do you have to fight against anything that could be good? Why can’t you think about how good we could be, even if _maybe_ we’re not guaranteed forever? You call me a danger magnet, so why can’t we make the most of the time we do have?” Steve’s eyes were intent, fierce as he reached out to grasp Danny’s shoulders, just shy of bruising. 

“I’ll be just as in love with you if we’re together or not, so why can’t we just be together?” Steve was so close Danny could see every speck swirl in his hazel eyes, feel the warmth of his breath, smell the spice of his aftershave, hear the plaintive tone of his voice as he so casually reiterated his feelings and suddenly Danny was overwhelmed with the need to taste him, to flood that one sense that wasn’t already filled with _Steve._

He didn’t care about holding back anymore, about hesitating, all the reasons he had for not taking what he wanted becoming the reasons he should; he would, too, be just as in love apart as together, they were already so wrapped up in one another that should anything happen it would destroy Danny anyway. Given her note, Grace was already all-in and so there would be no protecting her, her heart would be broken regardless. _Danny’s_ heart broken regardless. Wouldn’t it be better to just _have_ Steve, for however long he could? To know his taste, to wake in his arms, to comfort and soothe him when life’s slings and arrows cut deep, to watch shitty movies and climb the stairs together after instead of driving home alone?

To build a family, no matter how small and broken?

Steve looked stricken when Danny pressed both of his hands against his chest and pushed, shoving him backwards into the door, but then his lips curved into a smile when Danny followed and crowded him close, hands fisting in the collar of Steve’s shirt to tug him down just a little.

He went oh-so willingly.

“We’re getting one thing clear, babe. We do this and we keep the Oprah moments to a minimum, okay? Communication, yes, but this whole thing,” one hand left Steve to wave lazily around the room before zeroing back in on the shirt, “it’s a little too John Hughes for me.”

“I don’t get to proclaim my love for you under your window with a boom-box?” Steve’s hands slid down his sides to grip his hips tight, thumbs toying with his belt.

“Only if you don’t mind Duke arresting you for disturbing the peace five minutes later.”

“You gonna kiss me anytime soon?”

“I am. I very much am.” Steve leaned down further to facilitate and, most importantly, speed that along, only to groan in frustration when Danny pulled his face away.

“ _Danny.”_

_“_ You’re gonna wanna hear this.”

“Unless it’s ‘ _I’m gonna strip off and let you have your way with me’_ I don’t think I do.”

Danny snorted and shook his head. “Smooth Dog, how did you _ever_ get laid?”

Steve shrugged and gestured at his face and then body. Danny almost loathed that he was probably right, but pretty soon he was going to be the one that got to benefit from it so...

“I’m only going to say this once, but you were right.”

Steve smiled, smug and slow and Danny had to kiss the expression off his face. Because he could do that now, he was allowing himself to do that now.

About damn time.

Leaning in, Danny closed his eyes, brushing his nose along Steve’s jaw, lips following to smudge a path to his lips, stubble tickling him. Impatient, Steve’s hands clenched and relaxed on Danny’s hips, his grip close to bruising as though he feared that Danny would try to run from him again.

Instead of running, Danny slid his hands up into Steve’s hair, absently noting just how soft the strands were as they slipped through his fingers before he gripped tight and finally, _finally_ pressed their lips together.

Kissing was something Danny loved. It didn’t matter if it led to sex or not, he just always loved the intimacy of it. Any kind of kiss; the absent-minded goodbye that spoke of years of intimacy; the sleepy thank you; the wet and deep _I need you now_ kiss; the hello, how are you, I missed you today kiss.

But a first kiss, the sweetly exploring nature of it…that was a favourite and he planned to enjoy and remember this one. His last first kiss if Steve were to be believed. The first touch of Steve’s shockingly soft lips had him pushing forward, wanting more, needing the slick welcoming heat of Steve’s mouth on his. 

Like everything else with Steve, sweet and slow was out the window in a second, but it was Danny that deepened the kiss, making it more possessive, more demanding, biting at Steve’s lips. The moan he let out when Steve met him with equal fervour was lost between their mouths.

Steve’s hands scrabbled at Danny’s shoulders to pull him impossibly closer, hold him tighter. The strength of his hold, the surety of the hands that slipped around and down to fill his palms with Danny’s ass had Danny wondering how he could ever have doubted taking the step.

Steve kissed like his life depended on it, as though it was his one chance to convince Danny with lips and tongue to give him a shot. He kissed with his whole body, using his hold on Danny to tug him closer, to press the full lengths of their bodies together. Slim hips pressed forward into Danny’s, that powerful body undulating against him.

Danny couldn’t get enough. Not of the heat of Steve’s mouth, or his taste, a blend of something Danny couldn’t identify and the purloined sweet popcorn, and definitely not the feel of Steve’s solid body against his own, hot and hard and inviting.

Letting himself be pinned to the door gave Steve the stability he needed as he slouched a little to align their groins, pulling Danny against him to press himself all along the other man’s front. Steve gently thrust against the growing heat and pressure he could feel against his thigh. Heat flooded his gut as Danny’s hands left his collar to undo the first few buttons on his shirt, hands hot against his skin as they skimmed over his chest, tugging at his chest hair before thumbs rubbed infuriating circles over his nipples.

“Always wondered why you insisted on the muscle car, but it’s definitely not because you’ve got something to compensate for,” Steve thrust against Danny when he turned away for air while cursing SEAL lungs, the detective’s hardening cock rubbing against his thigh as he shoved it between Danny’s legs, and a glance down confirmed a _very_ promising bulge in the tailored slacks that were a constant distraction for him.

“Putz.”

“I just paid you a compliment!”

“What happened to ‘ _I can go slow?’”_ Contrary to his words, Danny’s fingers pinched and pulled at Steve’s nipples as he slowly rolled his hips into Steve’s , other hand tugging the shirt from Steve’s waistband to fumble with the remaining buttons, pushing the sides apart the moment they came free and glutting himself on the sight.

It was one _hell_ of a view, as was the one that greeted him when he was able to tear his gaze from those defined muscles and taut stomach.

Steve looked wild; cheeks flushed, eyes blown and intent, lips swollen and red. But more than just desire in his expression, Danny saw love and an overwhelming relief. A lightness and youth, the look of a man that had just been handed everything he ever wanted and didn’t know how to contain the joy, nor did he care to.

“I’m not the one doing the stripping here, babe.”

Skimming his hands up Steve’s muscular stomach Danny smoothed his hands over the pronounced curve of pectoral muscle and back down again to rest on his belt buckle. He felt Steve press gently forward into the touch.

Steve dropped his forehead to Danny’s, one hand coming up to gently cradle the back of his skull. Danny had witnessed the SEAL, and others, carry out the gesture with those they loved or respected, and Kono had once explained to him the meaning behind it. Danny exhaled, sharing his breath with Steve, hearing the hitch in his lover’s breath as Steve realised Danny had understood.

Steve licked his lips, their faces so close that his tongue flickered against Danny’s as well, leaving behind a smear of heat and flash of desire so strong all Danny could do was tip his face up and press their lips together once more.

A thank you kiss. Another favourite.

It was a stupid idea. Danny was still sure it was a _monumentally_ insane idea that is going to blow up in their faces like everything else, but there’s no putting all this shit back in the box now, no more walking away, no more sublimation.

He was all-in. He had always been all in. There was no more denying that.  
Danny pulled back from the kiss and dropped his head to rest against Steve’s chest, hands fisting in Steve’s shirt. Steve’s _very nice_ shirt, that he’d put on because Grace had insisted on having a special dinner, with cloth napkins and candles and flowers… He groaned as the realisation hit him like a ton of bricks.

"What?"

Gracie gave us a date." It was mumbled into Steve’s chest and Danny was definitely going to explore the delights of how the broad chest beneath his lips vibrated as the SEAL laughed.

"Dinner and a movie. The candles, the nice shirt - which I like very much by the way -" Danny demonstrated his appreciation by pleasingly running his hand down the length of Steve's front, fingers worming beneath his belt to tease against hidden skin. "The napkin bunnies-"

"Is that what they were?" Steve shivered as Danny’s fingers pressed further into his pants, tips just skimming the base of his dick.

"What did you think they were?"

"Uh...swans?" Steve hedged, head clearing a little as Danny withdrew his hand.

"You suggesting my little girl isn’t an artist?"

"I'm suggesting her talents lie elsewhere." Steve began to kiss a very interesting trail down Danny’s neck, nosing at the hollow at the base of his throat, resting his lips against the skin to feel his love’s fluttering heartbeat.

"Oh yeah?"

"She'd make a killing as a matchmaker." Steve’s word buzzed against his skin, before his tongue snaked out to taste it. Danny could only agree as he let his head fall back, giving Steve all the room he wanted to explore.

“This…uh…this is the last time we _ever_ mention my daughter while we’re-” Danny’s hand feebly waved between them before returning, as though magnetically drawn, to Steve’s hip which seemed carved to fill his palm perfectly. He wondered what else would fit his palm so well.

The blunt edges of Steve’s teeth skimmed up the length of his neck, reaching his ear. “ _Deal.”_ It was little more than a breath and Danny moaned. He grabbed Steve’s head, hands fisting tight in his hair a he dragged him back to his lips, desperate to taste him again.

Pushing off from the door, Steve guided them towards the couch and Danny let himself fall down onto it, pulling Steve atop him, the little scrap of paper fluttered into the air and before his brain completely shut off, Steve made a mental note to retrieve it later.

He was gonna get it framed. 

Maybe give it to Danny as a wedding present.

**Author's Note:**

> the sharing of breath is the honi in Hawaii  
> absolutely Steve works 97% into his wedding vows and his first year anniversary (paper) present to Danny is the framed note from Grace. Danny loves it and also calls Steve a smug cheap bastard but Steve argues that he had to buy the frame so...he doesn't argue that he's smug. he totally is
> 
> The boombox reference is from Say Anything which is actually a Cameron Crowe movie NOT a John Hughes, I know this. However canonically, Steve repeatedly makes slight pop culture reference mistakes (he’s right that it’s an 80s high school teen romance but just not a JH one) so I wanted to do that here too.
> 
> [I'm Kcsplace on Tumblr if you wanna chat about McDanno](https://kcsplace.tumblr.com/)


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